[ He lets that word out in a breath, so that it's little noisier than a little sigh. ] There's a war on, you know. Hardly time for personal pursuits.
[ But it's Bastien. And so he gives something closer to a true reason. ] I didn't at first because it was a matter of reputation. That concern is past, now, I suppose, since she's married. Has children. I can't spoil her prospects now. But - I don't know. What would there be to say? What would we discuss? [ A hesitation, and then he asks, most softly of all: ] What if she doesn't want to leave her children alone with me?
[ Which may seem an odd question. But it's his deepest fear of all. What if she'd come to believe the slander? All he had, all those years, that kept him going what the memory of her belief in him. If that's disappeared - Well. ]
no subject
[ He lets that word out in a breath, so that it's little noisier than a little sigh. ] There's a war on, you know. Hardly time for personal pursuits.
[ But it's Bastien. And so he gives something closer to a true reason. ] I didn't at first because it was a matter of reputation. That concern is past, now, I suppose, since she's married. Has children. I can't spoil her prospects now. But - I don't know. What would there be to say? What would we discuss? [ A hesitation, and then he asks, most softly of all: ] What if she doesn't want to leave her children alone with me?
[ Which may seem an odd question. But it's his deepest fear of all. What if she'd come to believe the slander? All he had, all those years, that kept him going what the memory of her belief in him. If that's disappeared - Well. ]